"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep," Obama cautioned. Young and charismatic but with little experience on the national level, Obama smashed through racial barriers and easily defeated ...

Duplicate, dead and disqualified participants receive approximately $1.4 million every month from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The USDA Inspector General found 2,000 dead people in New York and Massachusetts alone still receive stamps.

<quoted text>It's all right here, grasshopper, the crux of the matter:"Because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made a market for subprime mortgages the lenders did not have to worry about of the soundness of the mortgage contract they wrote. Thus the lenders could write the mortgages as adjustable interest rate mortgages knowing full well that an upturn in the interest rates could easily throw the borrower into insolvency. For example, when the interest rate is 6 percent the mortgage payment for a 30-year $200,000 mortgage is $1199 per month. If the interest rate goes up to 7 percent the mortgage payment would increase by $131 per month, an 11 percent increase. For many of the subprime borrowers living on the edge of insolvency this would be enough to push them over the edge. The guilt for the subprime mortgage financial crisis lies both with the lenders who knowingly put borrowers into booby trapped mortgages and the management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for making a market for such booby trapped mortgages thus giving the lenders the incentive for writing them. "Dems own this mess, lock, stock and barrel.

sonicfiller can't think for himself. He needs to copy something from a leftist weblink to feel better. If you present him with naked facts, he hesitates, gets confused and stutters with "?".

The first thing conservatives should understand about the electoral catastrophe that just befell us  and it was a catastrophe  is that any explanation of it that centers on Mitt Romney is mistaken.

Much of the discussion of the race among conservatives has made the opposite assumption.Romney proved to be the kind of electoral drag many of us suspected he would always be, wrote one conservative the morning after the election.It was a flawed candidacy from the start, wrote two others.Romneys caution and ever-shifting policy positions made him seem fearful, which is to say weak. His biography hurt him.... And because of his own history in Massachusetts, he could never effectively go after President Obama on Obamacare, the presidents biggest political weakness. Another called Romney the worst candidate to win his partys nomination since WWII. Still another wrote,There will be a lot of blame to go around, but, if Republicans are honest, theyll have to concede that the Romney campaign ran a bad campaign.

All of these writers are intelligent people (some of them friends of mine). None of them makes the mistake of assuming that this election should have been easy to win given the weak economy, the publics dissatisfaction with the status quo, and the unpopularity of Obamacare. They know that the economy has been improving, that the Democratic base in presidential races has been expanding for decades, and that the public still blames George W. Bush and his party for an economic crisis that began during his second term. Nor are they entirely wrong in their diagnoses of Romneys distinctive weaknesses and errors. They err mainly in attributing too much importance to them.

Romney was not a drag on the Republican party. The Republican party was a drag on him.

....The perception that the Republican party serves the interests only of the rich underlies all the demographic weaknesses that get discussed in narrower terms. Hispanics do not vote for the Democrats solely because of immigration. Many of them are poor and lack health insurance, and they hear nothing from the Republicans but a lot from the Democrats about bettering their situation. Young people, too, are economically insecure, especially these days. If Republicans found a way to apply conservative principles in ways that offered tangible benefits to most voters and then talked about this agenda in those terms, they would improve their standing among all of these groups while also increasing their appeal to white working-class voters. For that matter, higher-income voters would prefer candidates who seem practical and solution-oriented. Better communications skills, that perennial item on the wish list of losing parties, will achieve little if the party does not have an appealing agenda to communicate.

Despair has led many Republicans to question their earlier confidence that America is a center-right country. It is certainly a country that has strong conservative impulses: skepticism of government, respect for religion, concern for the family. What the country does not have is a center-right party that explains how to act on these impulses to improve the national condition. Until it does, it wont have a center-right political majority either.

Grover Norquists anti-tax dogma is slowly losing its grip on Republicans in both chambers of Congress. The Washington Posts Chris Cillizza has a handy rundown on the growing crop GOP defectors, but for brevitys sake, they are Sens. Lindsey Graham, Bob Corker, and Saxby Chambliss, as well as Rep. Peter King. This is on top of Speaker John Boehners pithy characterization of Norquist as some random person(if only!).

Count me as unapologetically happy about this development.

Its not that Im thrilled by the promise of higher taxes.

Rather, I think the party, and the conservative movement at large, is long overdue in recognizing that the Norquist pledge has proved a spectacular failure on its own terms. The pledge was more than simply a safeguard against tax increases; it was a means to an end. Norquist memorably described that end thusly:I dont want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.

Let Obama drive over the fiscal cliff:CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: It's not just a bad deal, this is really an insulting deal. What Geithner offered, what you showed on the screen, Robert E. Lee was offered easier terms at Appomattox, and he lost the Civil War. The Democrats won by 3% of the vote and they did not hold the House, Republicans won the house. So this is not exactly unconditional surrender, but that is what the administration is asking of the Republicans.This idea -- there are not only no cuts in this, there's an increase in spending with a new stimulus. I mean, this is almost unheard of. What do they expect? They obviously expect the Republicans will cave on everything. I think the Republicans ought to simply walk away. The president is the president. He's the leader. They are demanding that the Republicans explain all the cuts that they want to make.We had that movie a year-and-a-half ago where Paul Ryan presented a budget, a serious real budget with real cuts. Obama was supposed to gave speech where he would respond with a counter offer. And what did he do? He gave a speech where he had Ryan sitting in the front row. He called the Ryan proposal un-American, insulted him, offered nothing, and ran on Mediscare in the next 18 months.And they expect the Republicans are going to do this again? The Republicans are going to walk on this. And I think they have leverage. Yes, for Congressional Democrats it will help them in the future if Republicans absorb the blame because we will have a recession. But Obama is not running again unlike the Congressional Democrats. He's going to have a recession, 9% unemployment, 2 million more unemployed, and a second term that's going to be a ruin. That is not a good proposition if you are Barack Obama.

"Obama is not running again unlike the Congressional Democrats. He's going to have a recession, 9% unemployment, 2 million more unemployed, and a second term that's going to be a ruin. That is not a good proposition if you are Barack Obama."

Republicans should stay clear of this disaster in the making. Krauthammer is absolutely right.

They have expressed their opposition quite effectively. It's time for them to say "Obama, take the wheel. It's all yours."

If they are criticized for not doing more to stop it, so be it. People will realize the rationale soon enough when the blame can only be placed squarely at the doorstep of Obama and the democrats.

Asserting that Republican policies benefit everyone doesnt make the GOP more appealing. When it appears that these policies dont even seem to benefit large numbers of the GOPs reliable voters, telling people that they benefit from policies that do little or nothing for them isnt the way to gain their trust or support. Not recognizing this is the root of the partys weaknesses with voters.

There is a special place in Hell for Academicians. Today's institutions of learning are no longer institutions of learning. They are indoctrination centers.

Learning to think independently hasn't been done inside of any American Learning Institution in probably over 60 years now. Reality is what the leftist professor tells you it is. If you disagree, you get a poor grade. I've been there.

Students today just want that piece of paper so they can get on with a high-paid career. Disagreeing with your perfessor is a no-no. This attitude, however, leaves the student with no skills for discerning right from wrong, right from left or stupid from common sense and, somewhere down the road, that student will encounter a critical moment in their lives that will demand thinking skills they don't have. So they use their old professor's advice and run with it. Collectively, this causes America to shoot itself in the foot because we can't think independently. To wit: this last election.

Obama will get his upper-income tax hikes no matter what, the question is whether or not Republicans will cooperate to avert them for everyone else. If they dont, the Democrats will continue to paint the GOP as obstructing primarily on the wealthys behalf, and the president will get credit for practically balancing the budget.

<quoted text>WRONG. IT IS THOSE WITH SHORT SPANS OF ATTENTION WHO BORE EASILY. FOR THEM, THERE'S FUXNEWS. AND THEY HAVE HAWT TALKING HEADS TO KEEP YOUR FLACCID DONG SEMI-TUMESCENT AS YOU GUM YOUR HERO./j

In order to have an attention span at all, you must first have a discernible iota of intelligence. Otherwise, you are the mule waiting for further instructions from the 2x4 across the head.

<quoted text>There is a special place in Hell for Academicians. Today's institutions of learning are no longer institutions of learning. They are indoctrination centers.Learning to think independently hasn't been done inside of any American Learning Institution in probably over 60 years now. Reality is what the leftist professor tells you it is. If you disagree, you get a poor grade. I've been there.Students today just want that piece of paper so they can get on with a high-paid career. Disagreeing with your perfessor is a no-no. This attitude, however, leaves the student with no skills for discerning right from wrong, right from left or stupid from common sense and, somewhere down the road, that student will encounter a critical moment in their lives that will demand thinking skills they don't have. So they use their old professor's advice and run with it. Collectively, this causes America to shoot itself in the foot because we can't think independently. To wit: this last election.

lol! Why don't you show us the book on how Americans are supposed to think son.

<quoted text>In order to have an attention span at all, you must first have a discernible iota of intelligence. Otherwise, you are the mule waiting for further instructions from the 2x4 across the head.Howdy there, you cute little mule!

<quoted text>Democrats want to drive over the fiscal cliff, and Republicans should let them do so.

I used to disagree with that view but I've changed my mind. I believe that the only way left for wiser, cooler heads to prevail is to simply let the system break catastrophically. Then, picking up the pieces becomes the only way to reconstruct what should have been in the first place. It's a little like dealing with a teen. Just keep your peace and let them screw it up. They'll come back later and ask for help.

I think it was Reagan who said the this country is always just one generation away from losing its freedom. This is the generation Regan alluded to. It is frightening how stupidity can be held up high and glorified and carried through the streets like some football hero.

But here we are, pounding the drums, drinking the beer and acting like drunk fools heading toward a cliff with absolute glee. I'm wearing my crash helmet and holding on:}

DEBIL WANDER THE ROAD DOWN ALONGSIDE THE PITTSFIELD STATE FOREST. THE OLD OAK TREES STAND BARE IN THE TWILIGHT AND THE MAPLES' CONVOLUTED TRUNKS HANG OVER THE OLD ROAD LIKE TIRED SUPPLICANTS.HERE THE HOUSE OF THE ALDEN'S SAT. NOT MUCH TO LOOK AT NOW, NOTHING IN FACT. A FLATISH SPOT ON WHAT USED TO BE A ROAD. PRISCILLA AND CAPTAIN JOHN. THERE IS NOTHING LEFT. JOHN AND PRISCILLA MANAGED AFTER ALL THEIR LONG TOIL, TO LEAVE NOTHING AT ALL BEHIND.

DEBIL DRAWS HIS POTATO HOOK FROM HIS POCKET AND BEGINS TO DIG INTO THE THIN SOIL. A PIECE OF FRACTURED REDWARE APPEARS ALMOST BY ACCIDENT, THEN AN INSULATOR, A PIECE OF GREEN GLASS SO BOLD AS TO BE FREAKISH IN THE GRAVELLY SOIL. "BROOKFIELD," IT SAYS, BOLD AS BRASS. DEBIL POCKETS THE THING AND DIGS ON.

LITTLE BY LITTLE PIECES OF PRISCILLA APPEAR. A BUTTON FROM HER SHOE; COBALT BLUE AND FEATHERED BY HAND. WILLOWARE... GREEN HUNKS OF STAFFORDSHIRE... DEBIL DIGS INTO THE EARTH AND PRISCILLA APPEARS... WHOLE... HOLE... NO SIGN OF JOHN.

DEBIL REACHES HIS HAND DOWN INTO THE EARTH AND SEIZES... A SMALL VASE. HE WIPES THE GRIME AWAY WITH HIS FINGERS... BENNINGTON HE DECIDES, 1780'S... IT'S PARIANWARE... ALMOS' PERFECT... A FEW TINY GRAPES MISSING...

HE HOLDS IT TO HIS NOSE AND SMELLS... PRISCILLA. SHE LOVED THIS THING. THIS TINY WHITE THING. WHILE JOHN WAS OUT SWASHBUCKLING, PRISCILLA HELD THIS TINY THING TO HER BREASTS AND THOUGHT OF HOME.

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